Bottle cap reforming device



Jan. 12, 1932.

. M. E. BEAN ET AL.

BOTTLE CAP REFORMING D Filed Jan. 17, 1951 EVICE ATTORNEY.

Cat

Patented Jan. 12, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOTTLE CAP REFORMING DEVICE Application filed January 17, 1831.

This invention relates to improvements in bottle cap reforming devices. 'At the present time it is customary to throw away bottle caps after removingthem from the bottles on which they were originally secured. This is due to the fact that for many years these caps were used almost exclusively by soft drink and catsup manufacturers and the caps were removed by purchasers who had no further use for them. However of recent years it has been an increasingly common practice for householders tomake and bottle 7 soft drinks and catsups in their homes; these people usually have capping machines with which they secure bottle caps on the bottles. It is then the purpose of this invention to provide a bottle cap reforming device for reshaping the annular flanges of the caps after they have been removed from bottles to the end that they may be used over and over again.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a bottle cap reforming device by which the outer portion of the annular flange of the cap may be sprung outwardly while not interfering with the form of the inward spaced indentations originally formed in the flange; by pressing the marginal portion of the annular flange outwardly the indentations are also moved outwardly sufliciently for the cap to be again placed over a bottle mouth so that it may be secured over the latter by a capping machine in the conventional manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a bottle cap reforming device which is cheap to manufacture and simple in operation.

With these and other objects and advantages in View which will become apparent as the specification proceeds, the invention is hereinafter more fully described with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a side elevation of the invention, and

Figure 2 is a planview thereof.

Figure 3 is an enlarged diagrammatic view in section showing a used cap in the die before the annular flange has been pressed outwardly by the punch.

Serial No. 509,449.

Figure 4 is another enlarged sectional detail showing a portion of a bottle cap in the die after the annular flange has been pressed outwardly again by the punch.

Figures 5 and 6 are enlarged partial plan views of a bottle cap before and after it has been reformed.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a base plate usually apertured as indicated at 2 h to permit its being readily secured to any fixed surface. Integral with the plate 1 are spaced upward projections 3 between which a lever 4 is pivoted on a pin 5. A coil spring 6 is arranged between the underside of the lever 4 and the top of the plate 1 and is held against accidental disengagement from the saidleverby an element 7 extending downwardly from the latter into the upper coiled portion of the said spring. A stop 8 is formed at one extremity of the lever 4 which is normally so turned by the tension of the spring'6 that it rests against one extremity of the base plate 1.

On the base plate 1, and formed in the pres- P ent instance integral with it, is a die 9 downwardly into which the lower portion of a punch 10, which in the preferred construction is integral with the underside of the lever l, is adapted to be moved. The die 9 which receives a bottle cap 12 has the upper porti0n'9a of its annular wall outwardly flared, and the lower portion of the said wall extends substantially vertically from the base 9?) of the die. The punch 10 at its lower W extremity is provided with a downwardly and inwardly tapered portion 10a which corresponds substantially with the outwardly flared die portion 9a.

'In Figures 3 and 5 wherein a used cap 12 is shown in the die 9 it will be noted that the cap flange 12a extends almost at right angles to the cap base 12?) so that the upper portion of the flange is spaced fromthe outwardly flared portion 9a of the (lie. The indentations 14 formed in the cap 12 are in this case nearer the axis of the cap than they are in Figures 41 and 6 wherein the cap side 12a is shown outwardlyflared at its upper extremity, which'is the position the cap side assumes v after the punch 10 has been lowered. Thus the outward flexing of the cap side 12a has carried the indentations 14; outwardly without appreciably changing their form. The cap is then ready to be re-used on another bottle over the mouth of which it may be secured by a capping machine in the conventional manner. 7

While in'the foregoing the preferred form of construction of my device has been described and shown, it is understood that the invention is susceptible to such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a bottle cap reforming device comprising a base plate, a die thereon having an annular upwardly directed wall the upper portion of which is outwardly flared, upwardly projecting members on said base plate, a lever pivoted between said members, an element extending downwardly from said lever, a

stop formed at one extremity of said lever, a spring extending between said base plate and said lever adapted to hold said stop against said base plate, said element extending into the upper extremity of said spring and holding thelatter against accidental displacement, and a punch carried by said lever the underside of which is downwardly and inwardly inclined annularly and is. adapted to nest in said die, the latter being adapted to receive a used bottle cap having an upward ly directed annular flange with spaced inward indentations formed therein, andsaid punch being adapted to flex the upper portion of said flange outwardly without causing any substantial change of form in said indentations but spreading opposed indentations outwardly relative to one another.

' 2. As a new article of manufacture, a bottle cap reforming device comprising a base plate, a die thereon having an annular upwardly directed wall the upper portion of which is outwardly flared, upwardly projecting members on said base plate, a lever pivoted between said members, a stop formed at one extremity of said lever, a spring extending between said base plate and said lever adapted to hold said stop against said base plate, and a punch carried by said lever the underside of which is downwardly and inwardly inclined annularly and is adapted to nest in said die, the latter being adapted to receive a used bottle cap having an upwardly directed annular flange with spaced inward indentations formed therein, and said punch being adapted to flex the upper portion of said flange outwardly without causing any substantial change of form in said indentations but spreading opposed indentations outwardly relative to one another.

MAURICE E. BEAN. WALTER W. HERBST. 

